Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to retaining walls, and more particularly to a panel connector for connecting a soil reinforcement rod with a concrete face panel.
Description of Related Art
The prior art teaches many mechanisms and structures for attaching soil reinforcement rods to concrete face panels.
Hilfiker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,125, for example, teaches implanting loops or “eyes” in the concrete of the face panel for connecting them to the soil reinforcement rods. Each of the rods terminates in a loop that may be attached to the loop of the concrete face panel. This connector not only secures the soil reinforcement rods to the concrete face panels, it also serves to orient the soil reinforcement rods in a horizontal disposition within the embankment.
In another example, Hilfiker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,879, teaches another form of connectors for securing soil reinforcement elements to concrete face panels. The connectors include eyes fixed within the concrete face panels, and a wire lattice that is attached to the eyes with a rod that extends through the wire lattice and each of the eyes.
The prior art teaches various forms of connectors for connecting soil reinforcement rods to concrete face panels. However, the prior art does not teach connectors such as are described herein. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary.